From Sukothai I rode on to Phitsanulok, almost entirely on highway, and without a whole lot to see. But I did come upon a rice field filled with cranes, and that was definitely the highlight of the ride. The afternoon and evening were interesting enough though to make up for the day's ride. I survived traffic in Phitsanulok (with some back tracking, mad dashes across intersections and the like) to arrive early at the hostel run by my Warmshowers host. No one was there when I arrived, so I sent him a message and just hung out and waited for awhile. The guy was fun, a British ex-pat who had nothing good to say about England (weather is apparently shit and everyone whines too much), and so now he lives in Thailand, speaking fluent Thai and running a hostel with his Thai wife. He showed me around the place, and on the rooftop hang out and laundry space, he introduced me to a very interesting older woman who was staying long-term in exchange for chores. She was eccentric, extremely talkative, and claimed to have two PhDs and to have lived and worked in many different countries around the world. I felt it might well be all true, and much of it might not be, and I had no way to know. My host took me with him to a sauna he frequents every day at a local temple. Then he went back, he directed me how to get to another temple that is apparently the most visited by Thai people outside Bangkok. That evening, he, the long term guest, an Australian guest, a German guest, and I all went to dinner at a restaurant, where for just 70 baht apiece we shared a considerable communal meal of numerous different dishes, mostly vegetarian. I wish I knew how to order in Thai the way he could... It was a good time. The lady talked about a great many things, from tiger farms in Laos to the unhealthy eating habits in much of the world. The German was largely quiet. The Australian hitch-hiker inquired our host about many things, mostly where he could stay for free (mosques and temples and such). And the ignorant American, me, found himself caught out feeling foolish only a few times here and there (once when I failed to recognize that the mosque across the street was a mosque). Afterwards we came back and tried some bitter herbal whiskey of our host's concoction and chatted some more. The others went out to the bar then, but I headed to bed so I could get out early for the long day to follow.
Rising early in a six person dorm and trying not to wake anyone is not the easiest trick, but I think I managed. The long-term guest was extremely kind enough to make me a big breakfast while I got ready, having also shared pasta with me the night before, saying she only did it because I was a cyclist like her father was (who apparently lived to 107). Some Dutch cyclists had arrived after I had gone to bed, having taken the train up from Bangkok, and I spent some time looking over their bikes. I would have loved to meet them, but I had miles to make. My host had offered me an alternate route through the mountains to the East, saying Ayutthaya was just like Sukothai, and there was little to see between here and there. I deliberated a lot on what to do, but ultimately decided to stick to the original route. I rode 88 miles that day, and it was largely boring. The highlight was a brief conversation with a monk outside a restroom. But when I got to Nakhon Sawan at the end of the day, I was able to ride up a steep hill (doubling the climbing I did on an otherwise very flat ride) and see a really cool temple with a great view of the town. There was an observation tower that I wanted to go in to, but when I tried, a lady spent a lot of time on her phone figuring out how to get Google to translate "Under maintenance". The ride down the hill was a blast. That night at my hotel though... Let's just say it wasn't the best place I have stayed, and leave it at that.
The ride to Sing Buri the next day I was able to get off the highway onto a side road along a river for awhile and that was a welcome reprieve. Other than that, it was a largely uneventful day. I was finally able to do laundry in the evening as they had coin-op washers, and a really nice balcony in the room with a clothes line to let them dry. I actually did my laundry in my jacket and rain pants (both items I have realized I have no reason to have this trip) so I could launder all my shirts and shorts.
I made a half day ride to Ayutthaya. My hotel there was a little pricy, and a little behind the times, but nice and clean. It involves walking down a very narrow passageway to get to the rooms, one my bike and I barely fit in side by side. The lady showing me to my room (I think the owner), practically scoffed at me when I asked about bringing my bike into the room, and told me I could lock it up outside. I'm not a huge fan of that, but in this case, it seemed to be in a pretty safe place. So I locked up, took just a little down time in the room, and headed out to see Ayutthaya. It's true that it may have very similar architecture to Sukothai, but it was still incredible nonetheless. I saw some amazing temples, a beautiful public park, people riding elephants (which while an interesting spectacle, is sad and majorly messed up), and lots of bird life. It was a fun several hours walking around, even if the town was not particularly walkable thanks to a moat and several other barriers. I got offered a ride by a tuk-tuk driver who insisted the walk to one temple was impossible from there. I had fun proving that wrong, if only to myself, and even if it wasn't the funnest walk. In the evening, after a long day walking around as many temples as I could, I was able to get a good vegetarian meal at a restaurant that actually had a specific vegetarian menu. It was a damn good day.
That vegetarian-catering place was not open in the morning, and neither was the restaurant attached to the hotel, so I ultimately gave up on getting a good breakfast. It was a short ride to Nakhon Nayok, but I made it longer trying some complicated routes along side roads. It's always nice to get off the highway, take rural roads where you see things you otherwise wouldn't, slices of village life, wildlife, gorgeous fields, all of that. I saw so many cranes and took a lot of pictures. I saw several monitor lizards, and failed to get any pictures. I saw interesting farm and fishing equipment. I saw a man holding a dead bird in one hand while driving his motorcycle with another. I went up a steep bridge where I got such a wide-eyed look from an old woman with a single speed bicycle who had to walk up it. I rode roads that seemed more like a bike path in the US and yet somehow had two way vehicular traffic. The last part of the day on highway was so dull compared to the early half navigating side roads. I got to the hotel early, and had to be checked in by the cleaning lady, with a bit of confusion to making the process happen, a good part of it my own damn fault when I somehow handed her the wrong bill. I felt really embarrassed and dumb to make that mistake after this much time using Baht. But hey, mistakes happen. That evening I had an interesting time getting vegetarian food. I went to one place close by and after a lot of hulabaloo got told there was nothing for me by the teenage boy who was the only one who spoke English. Then I walked quite a bit further to a bar. The first guy got me a large bottle of beer, and then I asked for food. He had to get a second person to ascertain that I indeed wanted food with help from Google translate. Then a lady showed up who spoke some English, and I showed her on my phone (because apparently I can't pronounce it worth a damn) that I'm mangsawirat, vegetarian. And so she asks, oh, so then you want fried vegetables? And rice? To which I decided, sure, yeah, that sounded great. And then she added, and french fries? We could do french fries. So I drank beer and ate fried vegetables with rice and french fries, and I was pretty damn happy.
This evening I actually made a damn 40 minute round trip walk along the highway, at dusk on the return, just to get to another place here in this little town where they were willing to serve me plain rice and fried vegetables (not that I wouldn't love something else, but that's the only thing most people seem to understand vegetarians want to eat). It's not always easy to be vegetarian... Aside from that, I have little to report about today. I rode highway. I saw some tree farms. I saw some temples. After getting settled in to the hotel I tried to walk to some sort of garden, but I incurred the ire of some dogs and the road turned to dirt and undergrowth and I wasn't entirely sure it wasn't someone's property, so I gave up. I got some taro flavored Bangkok icecream from the store, and polished off a can of Pringles and some soda to calorically supplement my dinner while writing this blog. And that rather unceremoniously brings you up to date with the present.
It's been a really fun time in Thailand these last couple weeks. It's hard to believe that time is drawing to a close. After tomorrow, I'll be headed into Cambodia. A new country and a new adventure are just around the corner.
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